Independent Ireland
on the issue of Irish Independence
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‘Poor Little Belgium,’ the cause of Britain entering the European war of 1914 and turning it into a World War, was nothing of the kind. It was, in 1914, a highly militarised society at the centre of the world’s arms industry with a massive army and a dubious neutrality. It was one of the most brutal…
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On the Republic of Turkey’s Republic Day, Happy Birthday from Ireland. There are many parallels between Ireland’s and Turkey’s struggles for independence which were apparent to both Irish Republicans and Turkish nationalists at the time. A few years ago I discovered that an enthusiastic commentary had been published in Ireland about Mustapha Kemal Atatürk, the…
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In Part Three of the series on Pope Benedict XV I examine John Redmond and The Pope’s Peace Efforts of 1915. Just before he was elected Pope, Benedict wrote to a colleague: “I would regret if any parish priest should take sides for one or other belligerent.” But Redmondite Ireland and its parish priests did…
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Twenty years ago, on 31st August 1994, the Republican Army announced a complete cessation of military operations. That remarkable development of the Northern Catholics – the new Republican Army – was a product of the working out of the departure in Catholic politics that had been originally prompted from the South, from the office of…
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The Catholic Bulletin published this account of the Irish struggle for independence and sovereignty in 1938. It was written by Sean Toibin, writing under the pen name Fear Faire – a regular columnist for the Bulletin. It was put into print as De Valera completed the national struggle (except for the Six County area which…
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This year marks a significant centenary for the Nationalists of the North of Ireland. The year of 1914 saw the climax of their struggle for Irish Home Rule and the great gamble of their leaders, including their own Joe Devlin, in supporting Britain’s Great War. Having gradually freed themselves from centuries of systematic oppression, the…
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The Great War of 1914 was Britain’s Great War. But it should also be called Britain’s Great Fraud on Ireland and the world. When Britain encouraged and then entered the European war that was taking shape in August 1914 it made it into a Great War. It was Great Britain that put the Great in…
